Pieces

ABOUT Julia Dudek

Julia Dudek
Julia Dudek lives with her husband and two wonderful children in New Jersey. She graduated from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey with a degree in Historical Studies, and from Monmouth University with a Master of Arts in Teaching. Julia has received numerous awards for her writing More...

Description

Angelique isn’t a killer, not truly—but witnessing the cold-blooded murder of her best friend, and discovering that the killer’s identity is mysteriously missing from her memory, sends the beautiful medical student’s moral compass spinning wildly out of control.

To bring the murderer to justice, Angelique needs to remember, and she uncovers a dangerous way to do it—piece by piece. Now, her biggest challenge is completing her precarious mission before the benevolent detective, Ben Marsden, learns that the person behind the city’s string of bizarre killings, and the woman he has fallen helplessly in love with, are one and the same.

The characters for Pieces were something my grandmother and I brainstormed together fifteen years ago, when I was just in middle school. She was a writer herself once, even attending college in New York City briefly while in her twenties to study journalism, though she's never been published. Literature and writing was something we bonded over early on, and she has always been a fan of my writing, and promised me one day I would see it published. Earlier this year, however, she was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's, and I knew that if I wanted her to read the story she helped me come up with fifteen years ago, I'd have to take it off the shelf and make it happen. I am so proud and grateful that I'll be able to put a copy in her hands now.

"By rights, a debut novel should be flawed. But, if you’re looking for shortcomings in Pieces, the initial offering from newcomer Julia Dudek, your search may be as fruitless as that of Diogenes. Starting slow, and building speed like a steam locomotive with its engine stoked by a madman, Pieces is not only compelling, but is unrelenting. Its characters are fully drawn, its plot as sophisticated as any in recent memory, and its ability to draw the reader in is unparalleled. This thriller packs a wallop worthy of any literary heavyweight. If this is just the beginning, the future can only be of star magnitude. Can’t wait for more!"

- Joe Perrone Jr., author of As the Twig is Bent and Opening Day